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In astronomy, dark matter is a hypothetical form of matter that appears not to interact with light or the electromagnetic field. Dark matter is implied by gravitational effects which cannot be explained by general relativity unless more matter is present than can be seen.
But what is dark matter? One idea is that it could contain "supersymmetric particles" – hypothesized particles that are partners to those already known in the Standard Model. Experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) may provide more direct clues about dark matter.
Matter is defined as any substance that has mass and occupies space. But there’s more to the universe than the matter we can see. Dark matter and dark energy are mysterious substances that affect and shape the cosmos, and scientists are still trying to figure them out. Learn more.
May 9, 2018 · Dark matter is a type of matter that interacts with gravity but not with light, and makes up most of the material in the universe. Learn about its role in galaxy formation, its possible nature and how it might be detected in this article by a theoretical physicist.
- Lisa Randall
- 2018
May 25, 2024 · Dark matter is a component of the universe whose presence is discerned from its gravitational attraction rather than its luminosity. It makes up 30.1 percent of the matter-energy composition of the universe and has two varieties: baryonic and nonbaryonic.
- Adam Riess
- Dark matter is a component of the universe whose presence is discerned from its gravitational attraction rather than its luminosity.
- Dark matter makes up 30.1 percent of the matter-energy composition of the universe. The rest is dark energy (69.4 percent) and “ordinary” visible m...
- Dark matter’s existence was first inferred by Swiss American astronomer Fritz Zwicky, who in 1933 discovered that the mass of all the stars in the...
- Two varieties of dark matter have been found to exist. The first variety is about 4.5 percent of the universe and made of the familiar baryons (i.e...
Jun 13, 2024 · Dark matter is that invisible glue that keeps stars, dust, and gas together in a galaxy. This mysterious substance makes up the majority of a galaxy's mass and forms the foundation of our Universe's structure. Dark matter is still one of the greatest mysteries of science. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
Jan 28, 2022 · Dark matter emits no light, and cannot be directly observed, but scientists think that it and dark energy make up most of the mass of the universe.